May 22, 2013

One of the best parts of my career is that I get to go places and see things that are mostly off limits. As part of a story on Maya Religion I got to photograph Naj Tunich Cave in Guatelmala. The cave was a pilgrimage site and ceremonial center for the the classic era Maya. It is such a privilege to see things like this and be able to share the experience with photography.

February 11, 2013

I put this image on the natgeo Instagram feed in January and it reminds me that I should talk about planning a photograph. Sometimes images take months of planning.

Majlis al Jinn is a giant cave room in the Sultanate of Oman. It is over 400 feet wide and 1,000 feet long. The ceiling is almost 600 high. Multiple 747 airliners would fit on the floor. The scale of the room is difficult to imagine. There are huge holes in the ceiling that sometimes let in vast shafts of light. At the time I photographed it the cave was well known but I'd never seen a picture that captured the mystery of the place.